Scottish company awarded for “game-changing” communication tool

A SCOTTISH company has secured a win at the UK Internal Communications National Awards with a “game-changing” communication tool.

The Better Company, based in Edinburgh, claimed the ‘Innovation: Game Changer’ award for its Better Words programme.

The Better Words programme encourages and allows a company’s employees to choose and use easier-to-understand words at work and improve the impact of colleague and customer communications.

Over 400 internal communicators gathered in a ceremony in London’s Natural History Museum last month to celebrate best practices and innovation in the way UK companies communicate with their staff and customers.

The business was created after it was found that complicated words and tone of voice in business branding, contracts, and customer letters can often exclude people as the wording is too complex.

Better Words aims to show employees how to simplify and connect the language they use with the needs of their staff and customers in a simple-to-use tool and training programme.

Founder Lucy Richards was inspired to create Better Words after learning that all UK government content is written for a reading age of 9 – yet businesses and organisations often use words that are too long, too complicated, or simply don’t make sense to anyone outside of their own workplace.

Lucy said: “This is a special award for us after so much research and development to find a new model for organisations to make better connections with their colleagues and customers.

“There is nothing else quite like Better Words on the market and we believe we have the potential to make a huge difference to the success of communications programmes, starting with those all-important building blocks: words.”

The Better Words tool comes as research shows that in England, one in six adults have poor literacy skills whilst one in four adults in Scotland experience challenges due to a lack of literacy skills.

Alongside their client, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, Better Words impressed judges with its simple, practical and insight-driven approach to putting the power of better communication into the hands of employees.

Better Words language expert Jo Laidlaw added: “It’s really easy for businesses to hide behind complicated language, but it’s never the right thing to do.

“Our clients at Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks worked hard to go beyond their regulatory requirements and choose better words for everyone.

“Like them, all organisations can use Better Words to spark a change.“